Week Seven – Abimelech: The King who was not a king
Judges 9
 Westminster Shorter Catechism
 Review
a. Othniel
b. Ehud
c. Deborah and Barak
d. TURNING POINT: Gideon (6:1-8:32)
c. Abimelech
b. Jephthah
a. Samson
Judges is a transition book between Joshua and 1 Samuel. It was written by
Samuel to prepare Israel for a King, or to show them how they got Saul, the king
like the nations all around them. Deuteronomy 17:14-20:
“When you come to the land which the LORD your God is giving you, and possess it and
dwell in it, and say, ‘I will set a king over me like all the nations that are around me,’15
“you shall surely set a king over you whom the LORD your God chooses; one from among
your brethren you shall set as king over you; you may not set a foreigner over you, who is
not your brother.16 “But he shall not multiply horses for himself, nor cause the people to
return to Egypt to multiply horses, for the LORD has said to you, ‘You shall not return
that way again.’17 “Neither shall he multiply wives for himself, lest his heart turn away;
nor shall he greatly multiply silver and gold for himself. 18 “Also it shall be, when he
sits on the throne of his kingdom, that he shall write for himself a copy of this law in a
book, from the one before the priests, the Levites.19 “And it shall be with him, and he
shall read it all the days of his life, that he may learn to fear the LORD his God and be
careful to observe all the words of this law and these statutes,20 “that his heart may not
be lifted above his brethren, that he may not turn aside from the commandment to the
right hand or to the left, and that he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his
children in the midst of Israel.
The king is to be a man: 1) whom the Lord chooses 2) who is among your
brethren, who is not a foreigner. He is not supposed to: 1) multiply horses for
himself, nor cause the people to return to Egypt to multiply horses, 2) multiply
wives for himself, lest his heart turn away, 3) multiply gold and silver for himself.
He is supposed to: 1) make a copy of the law for himself, 2) read it, and 3) obey it.
The three reasons given for the commands are that: 1) his heart may not be lifted
above his brethren, 2) he may not turn aside from the commandment to the right
hand or to the left, 3) he may prolong his days in his kingdom, he and his children
in the midst of Israel.
In the lives of Gideon and Abimelech (Judges 8:22-9:57) we have 2 examples of
how not to rule Israel. Gideon is the turning point in the book of Judges. With
him (at the end of the Gideon story) we begin to see the judges compromising.
1) Gideon
He was God’s chosen man (as a judge/deliverer, but, not to be a king). He
was from among his brethren, not a foreigner. He originally rejected the
dynasty, but ended up building dynasty (70 sons – set up to rule when
Gideon died, see 9:2). He multiplied gold  makes an ephod. He had
multiplies wives (v. 30). Set up an idol, breaking the first and second
commandment.
2) Abimelech
Not God’s chosen man, but self-appointed (9:2), anointed by the people
(9:6). He was a usurper. He was a half foreigner?, not from among the
brethren (despite what 9:3 says). He was a murderer (killed seventy (69) of
Gideon’s sons on one stone – not obeying the commandments).
I.
The Covenant Cycle and Abimelech
1)
Creation/Blessing
8:28-32
“And the country was quiet for 40 years.” Note: the text says the country was
“quiet,” which is different than in the previous summaries, “So the land had rest
for…” (3:11, 30; 5:31). It is almost like the writer was building suspense in the
story because the reader should know that, based on the way the Gideon story
ended, the quiet would only be temporary.
2)
Fall/Sin
8:33-35
Read vv. 33-34. Notice the sin of ungratefulness to God the Father (Yahweh), and
God the Son (Gideon – who went in the place of the Angel of the Lord – Jesus).
This lack of thankfulness was manifest by a lack of remembrance of Yahweh.
3)
Judgment/Exile/slavery
9:1-6
God raised up a half Canaanite to rule over Israel (Abimelech = “My Father is
King”). This is a picture of what Israel should expect when she would have a king
in the future. When Israel would be unfaithful during the kings, Yahweh would
give them bad kings in Israel. During the time of the judges when Israel was
unfaithful, Yahweh sold them into slavery to foreign oppressors. Abimelech is an
oppressor from within Israel – Foreshadow of Saul and other bad kings. He is
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from Shechem – place where Joseph’s brothers turned against him (the place
where Rehoboam is later crowned king and the kingdom is divided).
Right away we see the evil of Abimelech. He paid 70 shekels of silver to kill
Gideon’s 70 sons, his own brothers (only one brother escaped, Jotham). This
money came from the temple of Baal-Berith (“lord of the covenant”) that we read
about last week at the conclusion of the Gideon story. He did this to make it easy
for the men of Shechem to decide to make him king. The reason this helps him is
that these 70 sons of Gideon were rulers throughout Israel. He asked them, which
is better to have one ruler or seventy rulers over you? So they helped him kill his
brothers. What is startling about this is that Shechem is both a Levitical City, and
a City of Refuge (Josh. 20:7; 21:21). The men of Shechem should have protected
the sons of Gideon, because they should have been concerned with justice as a City
of Refuge. They should have been well taught in the word of Yahweh because
many of them were Levites. They clearly failed to do their job, and as worshippers
of Baal, rejected God’s word.
In v. 6 we see that Abimelech was made Israel’s first king. This happened at the
terebinth tree in Shechem. We have seen these same trees earlier in Judges.
Deborah judged Israel under one (4:11) and Gideon his father met the Angel of the
Lord under one (6:11,19). Once again we see this symbol of the tree being a place
where earth meets heaven through Yahweh’s appointed representatives, usually in
judgment. This time, Abimelech uses the symbol as a way of making himself look
like God’s man.
4)
Repentance/Forgiveness
9:7-21
In v. 7 – God sent a prophet to prepare them for a deliverer – the surviving son of
Gideon, Jotham (which means “Yahweh is perfect/undefiled.” Yahweh is to be
their king!) He went up to Mt. Gerizim (the mountain of covenant blessing which
is near Shechem, cf. Deut. 11:29; 27:11-26; Josh. 8:30-35) and cried out with a
loud voice for the nation of Israel (see previous example in 6:6 of the nation of
Israel crying out to God for deliverance). Jotham prophesied judgment on the men
of Shechem and Abimelech (fire), which was to be judgment for the murder of
Gideon’s sons.
5)
Recreation/Restoration
9:22-57
Abimelech’s reign was oppression for 3 years (9:22). In v. 23 God sent a spirit of
ill will between Abimelech and the men of Shechem. Yahweh Himself is the
Spirit empowered ruler, the Judge of Israel that will bring deliverance, to avenge
the death of Gideon’s sons. Gaal (meaning, “hatred/loathing/to abhor”)(a
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Canaanite/Shechemite) declared himself ruler. Abimelech is warned about Gaal,
and used similar strategy as Gideon to take Shechem. Fire comes out of
Abimelech and destroys Shechem, and Thebez. A woman kills Abimelech at
Thebez with a rock (similar to Jael killing Sisera), and by the sword (similar to
Saul…asking for someone to run him through). In the end, a woman crushes the
head of the serpent (Gen. 3).
CHARACTER:
1) Perseverance – Gideon did not persevere and it led Israel into idolatry/judgment
and cost him his sons.
2) Ungratefulness – The Israelites were not grateful to the Lord, nor to Gideon for
their great deliverance, and it led to idolatry and destruction.
3) Pride – Abimelech thought more highly of himself than he ought to have and it
led to usurping the leadership of Israel, and murder.
4) Show great care to only have leaders over you that are godly, and be careful to
follow God’s word.
Homework assignment: Read Judges 10-12. Notice how Jephthah is a
compromised judge.
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